The Supreme Court heard arguments recently in Diamond Alternative Energy v. EPA, a case that could either accelerate or pump the brakes on EV mandates, depending on how the justices rule.

From Daily Caller. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a landmark case that could spell the end of California’s Clean Air Act waiver, which created what has been widely referred to as a de facto electric vehicle (EV) mandate in more than a dozen states.

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While Diamond Alternative Energy v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not directly center on the legality of the waiver, the court’s ruling on whether the petitioners have standing in the case could set a “massive” precedent, creating an opportunity for President Donald Trump’s administration to “balance” the emissions standards set by “extreme climate policy,” energy experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The elimination of California’s Clean Air Act waiver could lead to greater freedom for consumers and cheaper vehicle prices in the state, the District of Columbia and in the 17 other states that follow aspects of California’s emissions standards, the policy experts said.

“The entire future of the auto industry, and what kinds of automobiles people are allowed to buy, what choices they have … All of that is at stake in this ruling, in this court case,” Myron Ebell, former senior fellow and director for the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute told the DCNF. “Now we finally are at the point where we can win this debate.”

States are generally held to the EPA’s standard of emissions, though they can choose to follow the more strict California standard instead under the 1970 Clean Air Act. According to the law, only California is allowed to request a waiver from federal vehicle emission standards, permission which was granted to address “extraordinary conditions” in the state, such as poor air quality. …

The case now before the Supreme Court examines whether petitioners, like Diamond Alternative Energy which is a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation, have the legal standing to challenge the EPA’s 2022 decision to reinstate California’s waiver for stricter vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act. Under former President Joe Biden, the EPA reinstated the 2013 waiver which the first Trump administration partially withdrew in 2019. …

A court decision in favor of Diamond Alternative Energy could upend California’s ability to foist its emissions standards on the nation, and would allow other companies that represent key oil and gas producers to challenge the EPA’s other regulatory actions. The petitioners further argue that the California standard pins an unfair burden on fuel producers, which would lose business as a result of regulators’ push for EVs, and that they should have the standing to challenge it in court. A lower court previously ruled that the petitioners lack the standing to challenge the EPA’s waiver grant. …

California’s Advanced Clean Cars I program, which had its waiver reinstated in 2022, combines several regulations into one package, including zero-emission vehicle regulation and low emission vehicle criteria. The state’s Advanced Clean Cars II program, implemented in 2022  on a separate waiver, builds on this, mandating that all new cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the state — and any other state that adopts the California standard — be zero-emission by 2035.

To date, 17 states and the District of Columbia have adopted all or part of California’s emissions standards as allowed under a section in the Clean Air Act, according to the California Air Resources Board. …

Trump has been an outspoken critic of the previous administration’s push to produce more EVs as nationwide interest in the vehicles waned. …

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(Excerpt from Daily Caller. Photo Credit: Monkey Business Images via Canva Teams)